Thread: Irvine attorney in birth tourism case could face 40 years in prison

Irvine attorney in birth tourism case indicted by federal jury, could face 40 years in prison

June 10, 2015
Updated 3:40 p.m.
BY SCOTT SCHWEBKE / STAFF WRITER

Ken Z. Liang, 38, who was arrested May 15, could face a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted on both charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Yang said following a hearing in U.S. District Court in Riverside., ANA VENEGAS, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

RIVERSIDE – An Irvine attorney representing Chinese parents designated as witnesses in a crackdown on the local birth tourism industry was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Ken Z. Liang, 38, who was arrested May 15, could face a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted on both charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Yang said following a hearing in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

“The charges reflect how serious the United States government is about prosecuting attorneys and others who interfere with ongoing investigations,” he said.

James D Riddet, a San Clemente attorney representing Liang, could not be reached for comment.

Liang, who remains in federal custody, is accused of accepting $6,000 from a material witness in exchange for helping her leave the country, despite court orders, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

He declined to offer a written contract and asked for cash payments, officials alleged.

One of those material witnesses, a former client identified as “D.L,” assisted in an investigation that led to Liang’s arrest, according to an affidavit by Scott McKim, special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations.

Federal agents swarmed apartment complexes and homes in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties on March 3, interviewing pregnant Chinese women and seizing computers and documents.

Federal officials said three Chinese companies have engaged in visa and tax fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office designated 29 Chinese nationals – pregnant women and their family members – as material witnesses in an investigation against three Chinese companies that provide vacation-style trips to families who want to have their babies born in the United States so they will be U.S. citizens.

Company operators have not been charged.

Prosecutors contend in the indictment Liang introduced D.L. to an unindicted, unidentified co-conspirator, who purchased airplane tickets for D.L. to leave the U.S. for China without being detected by the federal government.

The indictment also alleges Liang enlisted two other unindictedco-conspirators to drive D.L. to the airport for the flight to China.

It’s also alleged in the indictment that Liang, together with “others known and unknown” to the federal grand jury, committed several overt, criminal acts.

For example, prosecutors contend, Liang accepted $6,000 in cash from D.L. on May 15 in exchange for assistance with travel to China, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors also allege Liang spoke by telephone and met with D.L multiple times, discussed how she could evade federal authorities, and told her he could lose his law license if caught.

Liang will be arraigned June 22 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/l...-attorney.html

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline


Related Links

• No bail: Irvine attorney accused of helping a Chinese mother get back home held because of flight risk
• Irvine attorney in birth tourism case arrested, accused of accepting money to help material witness get back to China
• Birth tourism case hits new stage, with criminal complaints filed against Chinese citizens
• Woman in 'birth tourism' case arrested at LAX as she tries to fly back to China
• David Whiting: Is it time to change the 14th Amendment giving citizenship to those born here?
• Birth tourism: An Irvine company makes $2 million in 2013 enticing foreign women to give birth to hundreds of babies in O.C., feds say
• Prosecutors say 10 birth tourism witnesses flee to China, warrants issued
• Why do Chinese mothers look to Southern California, specifically Irvine, for birth tourism? It's more than just baby's U.S. citizenship

http://www.alipac.us/f12/birth-touri...hinese-319177/

Forty years seems ridiculously lenient to me. It is past time to get serious, maybe life plus forty years?

For what? What did he do but help Chinese women come to the US to have babies, something thousands of American lawyers, churches, businesses, 501 C 3's, state and local governments, and why yes, the US government too, do for Mexicans, Hispanics and Latinos every day.

This entire case is race-driven because the people involved are Chinese, and it stinks to high heaven.

Liang, who remains in federal custody, is accused of accepting $6,000 from a material witness in exchange for helping her leave the country, despite court orders, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


Prosecutors contend in the indictment Liang introduced D.L. to an unindicted, unidentified co-conspirator, who purchased airplane tickets for D.L. to leave the U.S. for China without being detected by the federal government.


It’s also alleged in the indictment that Liang, together with “others known and unknown” to the federal grand jury, committed several overt, criminal acts.


Prosecutors also allege Liang spoke by telephone and met with D.L multiple times, discussed how she could evade federal authorities, and told her he could lose his law license if caught.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Liang, who remains in federal custody, is accused of accepting $6,000 from a material witness in exchange for helping her leave the country, despite court orders, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


Prosecutors contend in the indictment Liang introduced D.L. to an unindicted, unidentified co-conspirator, who purchased airplane tickets for D.L. to leave the U.S. for China without being detected by the federal government.


It’s also alleged in the indictment that Liang, together with “others known and unknown” to the federal grand jury, committed several overt, criminal acts.


Prosecutors also allege Liang spoke by telephone and met with D.L multiple times, discussed how she could evade federal authorities, and told her he could lose his law license if caught.

So what? All she did was have a baby. All he did was help her and charged for his assistance like all lawyers do. Show me where having a baby in the United States is a crime or helping someone have a baby in the United States is a crime. It is not a crime under our Constitution, and it most certainly is not a crime under our laws.

What is a crime is that our stupid government hands out Social Security Numbers, US passports and Citizenship to people who are not entitled to them. THAT IS THE CRIME. So go lock yourselves up for 40 years.

The crime was helping her LEAVE the country without being detected when he knew she was under court order to NOT leave.

I'm sure the federal attorneys handling this know more about the law than you.

Lawyer Indicted in California ‘Birth Tourism’ Probe

Authorities say Ken Liang took $6,000 to help a court-designated witness flee the U.S. for China

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 10, 2015 8:31 p.m. ET

SANTA ANA, Calif.—An Orange County lawyer has been indicted after authorities say he tried to help a Chinese witness in a birth tourism probe flee the U.S.

The U.S. attorney’s office says Ken Liang was indicted Wednesday in Santa Ana on charges of conspiracy and witness tampering.

Mr. Liang is scheduled to be arraigned June 22. Prosecutors say he could face up to 40 years in prison.

A message seeking comment was left for Mr. Liang’s attorney James Riddet.

Authorities say Mr. Liang took $6,000 to help a court-designated witness leave for China without being detected by federal authorities.

The witness was designated in a continuing federal probe of a business that authorities say helped pregnant Chinese women travel to California to give birth to U.S. citizens.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/lawyer-i...obe-1433982673

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

The crime was helping her LEAVE the country without being detected when he knew she was under court order to NOT leave.

I'm sure the federal attorneys handling this know more about the law than you.

Well obviously they don't, or they would have been hanging out every single day at emergency rooms arresting pregnant illegal aliens signing their kids up for Medicaid for the past 40 years, we wouldn't have a nation of anchor babies, and no need for DAPA.

Court order for what? To be a material witness to her own pregnancy? GIVE ME A BREAK!! The US Government has no jurisdiction over this woman. She committed no crime, isn't charged with a crime, and our government has absolutely no authority at all over citizens of China or any other foreign nation who want to get the hell out of here and go home! Furthermore, we want them to go get the hell of here and go home.

There is no crime, there is no witness to a crime because there is no crime, there is no valid court order enabling our government to kidnap a citizen of a foreign country to testify in some kangaroo court over her own pregnancy and giving birth in the United States, which is not a crime. It is not a crime for a lawyer to help her have a baby in the United States. It is not a crime for a lawyer to help her escape a government kidnapping and go home. She committed no crime. She witnessed no crime. There is no crime.

The only CRIME is our stupid governments handing our birth certificates, Social Security Numbers, US Passports and US citizenship to people who aren't entitled to them. So again, go lock yourselves up for 40 years.

Originally Posted by Judy

The only CRIME is our stupid governments handing our birth certificates, Social Security Numbers, US Passports and US citizenship to people who aren't entitled to them. So again, go lock yourselves up for 40 years.

I hope that this is just a sign of impending general enforcement.

The 14th Amendment was not intended to convey citizenship to people who do not owe allegiance to the United States. That's why it reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

If the writers of the 24th Amendment had intended to include, for example, birth tourists, there would have been no need to add "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

We can of course apply our laws to tourists. If necessary we can imprison and then deport them. But imprisoning them does not transform them into citizens, it merely makes them criminal aliens whom we will deport.
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